Investors Get a Clear Message:
The Philippines Has Changed

By

Jon Liden Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated Oct. 4, 1996 12:01 a.m. ET

MANILA, Philippines -- After four years of economic reform, the Philippines is finally shedding its image as a shabby business backwater and is beginning to attract droves of foreign investors. Indeed, some businesspeople say the country soon could become Asia's most fashionable new destination for foreign capital.

Last year, the Philippines received nearly $1.5 billion in foreign direct investment, up from only $228 million in 1992 -- the year President Fidel Ramos took office and began orchestrating the economic...